An aircraft frequently needs to reverse to leave its parking point. However, its engines cannot generally accomplish this movement independently. A known method is therefore to push the aircraft using a tractor from its parking point, reversing it to a position from which it can move independently using its engines alone. This operation is usually called “pushback”. Systems used to tow aircraft along the ground are for example described in documents U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,025,922, 3,015,509 and 3,005,510. The tractor is controlled by a pilot onboard the appliance or controlling the appliance remotely. The tractor is generally connected to the nose landing gear of the aircraft in order to move it.
However, the nose landing gear is not originally designed for this type of operation. The stresses generated in the landing gear while moving the aircraft could cause fatigue and considerably reduce its lifetime. Consequently, this increases the risk of nose landing gear failure. Obviously, the nose landing gear could be reinforced to prevent these risks, but this will increases the weight of the aircraft and therefore the fuel consumption in flight. Whatever the case, the cost of reinforcing or replacing the nose landing gear is prohibitive.
In addition, the possibilities for moving the aircraft using the tractor remain limited. For example, the aircraft cannot take certain types of turn. Similarly, the aircraft cannot make a 180° turn on the spot. Moreover, the tractor is difficult to control, an error in the tractor trajectory leading to a greater error in the trajectory followed by the aircraft.